Dawmatia is today a historicaw region onwy, not formawwy instituted in Croatian waw. Its exact extent is derefore uncertain and subject to pubwic perception, uh-hah-hah-hah. According to Lena Mirošević and Josip Faričić of de University of Zadar:[6]

The extent of de Kingdom of Dawmatia (bwue) which existed widin Austria-Hungary untiw 1918, on a map of modern-day Croatia and Montenegro

…de modern perception of Dawmatia is mainwy based on de territoriaw extent of de Austrian Kingdom of Dawmatia, wif de exception of Rab iswand, which is geographicawwy rewated to de Kvarner area and functionawwy to de Littoraw–Gorski Kotar area, and wif de exception of de Bay of Kotor, which was annexed to anoder state (Montenegro) after Worwd War I. Simuwtaneouswy, de soudern part of Lika and upper Pounje, which were not a part of Austrian Dawmatia, became a part of Zadar County. From de present-day administrative and territoriaw point of view, Dawmatia comprises de four Croatian wittoraw counties wif seats in Zadar, Šibenik, Spwit, and Dubrovnik.

"Dawmatia" is derefore generawwy perceived to extend approximatewy to de borders of de Austrian Kingdom of Dawmatia. However, due to territoriaw and administrative changes over de past century, de perception can be seen to have awtered somewhat wif regard to certain areas, and sources confwict as to deir being part of de region in modern times:

The iswand of Rab, awong wif de smaww iswands of Sveti Grgur and Gowi, were a part of de Kingdom of Dawmatia and are historicawwy and cuwturawwy rewated to de region, but are today associated more wif de Croatian Littoraw, due to geographicaw vicinity and administrative expediency.

Gračac municipawity and nordern Pag. A number of sources express de view dat "from de modern-day administrative point of view", de extent of Dawmatia eqwates to de four soudernmost counties of Croatia: Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Spwit-Dawmatia, and Dubrovnik-Neretva.[6][11][12][13][14][15] This definition does not incwude de Bay of Kotor, nor de iswands of Rab, Sveti Grgur, and Gowi. It awso excwudes de nordern part of de iswand of Pag, which is part of de Lika-Senj County. However, it incwudes de Gračac Municipawity in Zadar County, which was not a part of de Kingdom of Dawmatia and is not traditionawwy associated wif de region (but instead de region of Lika).

The inhabitants of Dawmatia are cuwturawwy subdivided into two groups. The urban famiwies of de coastaw cities, commonwy known as Fetivi,[16] are cuwturawwy akin to de inhabitants of de Dawmatian iswands (known derogatoriwy as Boduwi). The two are togeder distinct, in de Mediterranean aspects of deir cuwture, from de more numerous inhabitants of de Zaweđe, de hinterwand. Referred to (sometimes derogatoriwy) as de Vwaji, deir name originated from de Vwachs wif whom dey have no ednicaw connection, uh-hah-hah-hah.[17] The watter are historicawwy more infwuenced by Ottomancuwture, merging awmost seamwesswy at de border wif de Herzegovinian Croats and soudern Bosnia and Herzegovina in generaw. Popuwation of present-day Dawmatia is descended from Croats who assimiwated wif awready existing Romanized Iwwyrians, upon deir arrivaw.[18]

The former two groups (inhabitants of de iswands and de cities) historicawwy incwuded many Venetian and Itawian speakers, many of whom identified as Itawians (esp. after de Itawian unification). Their presence, rewative to dose identifying as Croats, decreased dramaticawwy over de course of de 19f and de first hawf of de 20f century. The Itawian speakers constituted (according to de Itawian winguist Bartowi) nearwy one dird of Dawmatians in de second hawf of de 18f century.[19] According to de Austrian census it had decreased to 12.5% in 1865 and 3.1% in 1890.[20] There remains, however, a strong cuwturaw, and, in part, ancestraw heritage among de natives of de cities and iswands, who today awmost excwusivewy identify as Croats, but retain a sense of regionaw identity.

Most of de area is covered by Dinaric Awps mountain ranges running from norf-west to souf-east. On de coasts de cwimate is Mediterranean, whiwe furder inwand it is moderate Mediterranean, uh-hah-hah-hah. In de mountains, winters are frosty and snowy, whiwe summers are hot and dry. To de souf winters are miwder. Over de centuries many forests have been cut down and repwaced wif bush and brush. There is evergreen vegetation on de coast. The soiws are generawwy poor, except on de pwains where areas wif naturaw grass, fertiwe soiws, and warm summers provide an opportunity for tiwwage. Ewsewhere, wand cuwtivation is mostwy unsuccessfuw because of de mountains, hot summers, and poor soiws, awdough owives and grapes fwourish. Energy resources are scarce. Ewectricity is mainwy produced by hydropower stations. There is a considerabwe amount of bauxite.[citation needed]

Dawmatia's name is derived from de name of an Iwwyrian tribe cawwed de Dawmatae who wived in de area of de eastern Adriatic coast in de 1st miwwennium BC. It was part of de Iwwyrian Kingdom between de 4f century BC and de Iwwyrian Wars (220, 168 BC) when de Roman Repubwic estabwished its protectorate souf of de river Neretva. The name "Dawmatia" was in use probabwy from de second hawf of de 2nd century BC and certainwy from de first hawf of de 1st century BC, defining a coastaw area of de eastern Adriatic between de Krka and Neretva rivers.[24] It was swowwy incorporated into Roman possessions untiw de Roman province of Iwwyricum was formawwy estabwished around 32–27 BC. In 9 AD de Dawmatians raised de wast in a series of revowts[25] togeder wif de Pannonians, but it was finawwy crushed and, in 10 AD, Iwwyricum was spwit into two provinces, Pannonia and Dawmatia, which spread into warger area inwand to cover aww of de Dinaric Awps and most of de eastern Adriatic coast.[26]

The historian Theodore Mommsen wrote in his book, The Provinces of de Roman Empire, dat aww Dawmatia was fuwwy romanized by de 4f century AD. However, anawysis of archaeowogicaw materiaw from dat period has shown dat de process of Romanization was rader sewective. Whiwe urban centers, bof coastaw and inwand, were awmost compwetewy romanized, de situation in de countryside was compwetewy different. Despite de Iwwyrians being subject to a strong process of accuwturation, dey continued to speak deir native wanguage, worship deir own gods and traditions, and fowwow deir own sociaw-powiticaw tribaw organization which was adapted to Roman administration and powiticaw structure onwy in some necessities.[27]

The Swavs, woosewy awwied wif de Avars, permanentwy settwed de region in de first hawf of de 7f century AD and remained its predominant ednic group ever since. The Croats soon formed deir own reawm: de Principawity of Dawmatian Croatia ruwed by native Princes of Guduscan origin, uh-hah-hah-hah. The meaning of de geographicaw term "Dawmatia" now shrank to de coastaw cities and deir immediate hinterwand. These cities were de romance-speaking Dawmatian city-states and remained infwuentiaw as dey were weww fortified and maintained deir connection wif de Byzantine Empire. The originaw name of de cities was Jadera, Spawatum, Crespa, Arba, Tragurium, Vecwa, Ragusium and Cattarum. The wanguage and de waws were initiawwy Latin, but after a few centuries dey devewoped deir own neo-Latin wanguage (de "Dawmatico"), dat wasted untiw de 19f century. The cities were maritime centres wif a huge commerce mainwy wif de Itawian peninsuwa and wif de growing Repubwic of Venice. The two communities were somewhat hostiwe at first, but as de Croats became Christianized dis tension increasingwy subsided. A degree of cuwturaw mingwing soon took pwace, in some encwaves stronger, in oders weaker, as Swavic infwuence and cuwture was more accentuated in Ragusa, Spawatum, and Tragurium.

In about 925 AD, Duke Tomiswav was crowned, estabwishing de Kingdom of Croatia, and extending his infwuence furder soudwards to Zachwumia. As an awwy of de Byzantine Empire, de King was given de status of Protector of Dawmatia, and became its de facto ruwer.

In de High Medievaw period, de Byzantine Empire was no wonger abwe to maintain its power consistentwy in Dawmatia, and was finawwy rendered impotent so far west by de Fourf Crusade in 1204. The Venetian Repubwic, on de oder hand, was in de ascendant, whiwe de Kingdom of Croatia became increasingwy infwuenced by Hungary to de norf, being absorbed into it via personaw union in 1102. Thus, dese two factions became invowved in a struggwe in dis area, intermittentwy controwwing it as de bawance shifted. During de reign of King Emeric, de Dawmatian cities separated from Hungary by a treaty.[29] A consistent period of Hungarian ruwe in Dawmatia was ended wif de Mongow invasion of Hungary in 1241. The Mongows severewy impaired de feudaw state, so much so dat dat same year, King Béwa IV had to take refuge in Dawmatia, as far souf as de Kwis fortress. The Mongows attacked de Dawmatian cities for de next few years but eventuawwy widdrew widout major success.

In de souf, due to its protected wocation, Kotor became a major city for de sawt trade. The area fwourished during de 14f century under de ruwe of Serbian emperor Dušan de Mighty, who was notorious for his aggressive waw enforcement, and made de Bay of Kotor a particuwarwy safe pwace for doing business.[30] In 1389 Tvrtko I, de founder of de Bosnian Kingdom, was abwe to controw de Adriatic wittoraw between Kotor and Šibenik, and even cwaimed controw over de nordern coast up to Rijeka, and his own independent awwy, Dubrovnik (Ragusa). This was onwy temporary, as Hungary and de Venetians continued deir struggwe over Dawmatia after Tvrtko's deaf in 1391. By dis time, de whowe Hungarian and Croatian Kingdom was facing increasing internaw difficuwties, as a 20-year civiw war ensued between de Capetian House of Anjou from de Kingdom of Napwes, and King Sigismund of de House of Luxembourg. During de war, de wosing contender, Ladiswaus of Napwes, sowd his "rights" on Dawmatia to de Venetian Repubwic for a mere 100,000 ducats. The much more centrawized Repubwic came to controw aww of Dawmatia by de year 1420, it was to remain under Venetian ruwe for 377 years (1420–1797).[31]

From 1420 to 1797 de Repubwic of Venice controwwed most of Dawmatia, cawwing it Escwavonia in de 15f century[32] wif de soudern encwave, de Bay of Kotor, being cawwed Awbania Veneta. Venetian was de commerciaw wingua franca in de Mediterranean at dat time, and it heaviwy infwuenced Dawmatian and to a wesser degree coastaw Croatian and Awbanian.

The soudern city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) became de facto independent in 1358 drough de Treaty of Zadar when Venice rewinqwished its suzerainty over it to Louis I of Hungary. In 1481, Ragusa switched awwegiance to de Ottoman Empire. This gave its tradesmen advantages such as access to de Bwack Sea, and de Repubwic of Ragusa was de fiercest competitor to Venice's merchants in de 15f and 16f centuries.

The Repubwic of Venice was awso one of de powers most hostiwe to de Ottoman Empire's expansion, and participated in many wars against it. As de Ottomans took controw of de hinterwand, many Christians took refuge in de coastaw cities of Dawmatia. The border between de Dawmatian hinterwand and de Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina greatwy fwuctuated untiw de Morean War, when de Venetian capture of Knin and Sinj set much of de borderwine at its current position, uh-hah-hah-hah.[33]

After de Great Turkish War and de Peace of Passarowitz, more peacefuw times made Dawmatia experience a period of certain economic and cuwturaw growf in de 18f century, wif de re-estabwishment of trade and exchange wif de hinterwand. This period was abruptwy interrupted wif de faww of de Repubwic of Venice in 1797. Napoweon's troops stormed de region and ended de independence of de Repubwic of Ragusa as weww, saving it from occupation by de Russian Empire and Montenegro.

In 1805, Napoweon created his Kingdom of Itawy around de Adriatic Sea, annexing to it de former Venetian Dawmatia from Istria to Kotor. In 1808 he annexed to dis Itawian Kingdom de just conqwered Repubwic of Ragusa. A year water in 1809 he removed de Venetian Dawmatia from his Kingdom of Itawy and created de Iwwyrian Provinces, which were annexed to France, and created his marshaw Nicowas SouwtDuke of Dawmatia.

Napoweon's ruwe in Dawmatia was marked wif war and high taxation, which caused severaw rebewwions. On de oder hand, French ruwe greatwy contributed to Croatian nationaw awakening (de first newspaper in Croatian was pubwished den in Zadar, de Iw Regio Dawmata – Kragwski Dawmatin), de wegaw system and infrastructure were finawwy modernized somewhat in Dawmatia, and de educationaw system fwourished. French ruwe brought a wot of improvements in infrastructure; many roads were buiwt or reconstructed. Napoweon himsewf bwamed Marshaw Auguste Marmont, de governor of Dawmatia, dat too much money was spent. However, in 1813, de Habsburgs once again decwared war on France and, by de fowwowing year, had restored controw over Dawmatia.

In 1848, de Croatian Assembwy (Sabor) pubwished de Peopwe's Reqwests, in which dey reqwested among oder dings de abowition of serfdom and de unification of Dawmatia and Croatia. The Dubrovnik Municipawity was de most outspoken of aww de Dawmatian communes in its support for unification wif Croatia. A wetter was sent from Dubrovnik to Zagreb wif pwedges to work for dis idea. In 1849, Dubrovnik continued to wead de Dawmatian cities in de struggwe for unification, uh-hah-hah-hah. A warge-scawe campaign was waunched in de Dubrovnik paper L'Avvenire (The Future) based on a cwearwy formuwated programme: de federaw system for de Habsburg territories, de incwusion of Dawmatia into Croatia and de Swavic broderhood. The president of de counciw of Kingdom of Dawmatia was de powitician Baron Vwaho Getawdić.

In de same year, de first issue of de Dubrovnik awmanac appeared, Fwower of de Nationaw Literature (Dubrovnik, cvijet narodnog književstva), in which Petar Preradović pubwished his noted poem "To Dubrovnik". This and oder witerary and journawistic texts, which continued to be pubwished, contributed to de awakening of de nationaw consciousness refwected in efforts to introduce de Croatian wanguage into schoows and offices, and to promote Croatian books. The Emperor Franz Joseph brought de so-cawwed Imposed Constitution which prohibited de unification of Dawmatia and Croatia and awso any furder powiticaw activity wif dis end in view. The powiticaw struggwe of Dubrovnik to be united wif Croatia, which was intense droughout 1848–49, did not succeed at dat time.

In 1861 was de meeting of de first Dawmatian Assembwy, wif representatives from Dubrovnik. Representatives of Kotor came to Dubrovnik to join de struggwe for unification wif Croatia. The citizens of Dubrovnik gave dem a festive wewcome, fwying Croatian fwags from de ramparts and exhibiting de swogan: Ragusa wif Kotor. The Kotorans ewected a dewegation to go to Vienna; Dubrovnik nominated Niko Pucić, who went to Vienna to demand not onwy de unification of Dawmatia wif Croatia, but awso de unification of aww Croatian territories under one common Assembwy.

In 1905 a dispute arose in de Austrian Reichsrat over wheder Austria shouwd pay for Dawmatia. It has been argued dat in de concwusion of de so-cawwed "Apriw Laws" is written "given by Banus Count Kegwevich of Buzin", which expwained de historicaw affiwiation of Dawmatia to Hungary.[34] Two years water Dawmatia ewected representatives to de Austrian Reichsrat.

Dawmatia was a strategic region during Worwd War I dat bof Itawy and Serbia intended to seize from Austria-Hungary. Itawy joined de Tripwe EntenteAwwies in 1915 upon agreeing to de London Pact dat guaranteed Itawy de right to annex a warge portion of Dawmatia in exchange for Itawy's participation on de Awwied side. From 5–6 November 1918, Itawian forces were reported to have reached Lissa, Lagosta, Sebenico, and oder wocawities on de Dawmatian coast.[35] By de end of hostiwities in November 1918, de Itawian miwitary had seized controw of de entire portion of Dawmatia dat had been guaranteed to Itawy by de London Pact and by 17 November had seized Rijeka as weww.[36] In 1918, Admiraw Enrico Miwwo decwared himsewf Itawy's Governor of Dawmatia.[36] Famous Itawian nationawistGabriewe d'Annunzio supported de seizure of Dawmatia, and proceeded to Zadar in an Itawian warship in December 1918.[37] However, in spite of de guarantees of de London Pact to Itawy of a warge portion of Dawmatia and Itawian miwitary occupation of cwaimed territories of Dawmatia, during de peace settwement negotiations of 1919 to 1920 de Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wiwson dat advocated sewf-determination of nations took precedence, wif Itawy onwy being permitted to annex Zadar from Dawmatia, whiwe de rest of Dawmatia was to be part of Yugoswavia.

At de end of de First Worwd War, de Austrian Empire disintegrated, and Dawmatia was again spwit between de Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Swovenes (water de Kingdom of Yugoswavia) which controwwed most of it, and de Kingdom of Itawy which hewd smaww portions of nordern Dawmatia around Zadar and de iswands of Cres, Lošinj, and Lastovo. Itawy entered de First Worwd War in a territoriaw gambwe, mostwy to gain Dawmatia. But Itawy got onwy a smaww part of its pretensions, so Dawmatia mostwy stayed Yugoswav untiw Benito Mussowini invaded Yugoswavia in 1941 and occupied de region, uh-hah-hah-hah.

In 1922, de territory of de former Kingdom of Dawmatia was divided into two provinces, de District of Spwit (Spwitska obwast), wif its capitaw in Spwit, and de District of Dubrovnik (Dubrovačka obwast), wif its capitaw in Dubrovnik. In 1929, de Littoraw Banovina (Primorska Banovina), a province of de Kingdom of Yugoswavia, was formed. Its capitaw was Spwit, and it incwuded most of Dawmatia and parts of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The soudern parts of Dawmatia were in Zeta Banovina, from de Guwf of Kotor to Pewješac peninsuwa incwuding Dubrovnik. In 1939, Littoraw Banovina was joined wif Sava Banovina (and wif smawwer parts of oder banovinas) to form a new province named de Banovina of Croatia. The same year, de ednic Croatian areas of de Zeta Banovina from de Guwf of Kotor to Pewješac, incwuding Dubrovnik, were merged wif a new Banovina of Croatia.

During Worwd War II, in 1941, Nazi Germany, Fascist Itawy, Hungary, and Buwgaria occupied Yugoswavia, redrawing deir borders to incwude former parts of de Yugoswavian state. A new Nazi puppet state, de Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was created, and Fascist Itawy was given some parts of de Dawmatian coast, notabwy around Zadar and Spwit, as weww as many of de area's iswands. The remaining parts of Dawmatia became part of de NDH. Many Croats moved from de Itawian-occupied area and took refuge in de satewwite state of Croatia, which became de battweground for a guerriwwa war between de Axis and de Yugoswav Partisans. Fowwowing de surrender of Itawy in 1943, most of Itawian-controwwed Dawmatia was taken over by German forces and reverted to controw under de puppet Independent State of Croatia. Zadar was razed by de Awwies during Worwd War II, starting de exodus of its Itawian popuwation, uh-hah-hah-hah. After WWII, Dawmatia became part of de Peopwe's Repubwic of Croatia, part of de SFR Yugoswavia (den cawwed de Federative Peopwe's Repubwic of Yugoswavia).

The territory of former Kingdom of Dawmatia was divided between two federaw Repubwics of Yugoswavia and most of de territory went to Croatia, weaving onwy de Bay of Kotor to Montenegro. When Yugoswavia dissowved in 1991, dose borders were retained and remain in force. During de Croatian war of Independence, most of Dawmatia was a battweground between de Croatian government and wocaw Serb rebews, wif much of de region being pwaced under de controw of Serbs. Croatia did regain soudern parts of dese territories in 1992 but did not regain aww of de territory untiw 1995.